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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23004058">Nerve</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfficerAerynSun/pseuds/OfficerAerynSun'>OfficerAerynSun</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Saving Hope (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, First Kiss, I just want to write them all as residents okay?, Pre-Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:21:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>898</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23004058</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/OfficerAerynSun/pseuds/OfficerAerynSun</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When his first lead surgery goes awry, resident Charlie Harris gets a pep talk - of sorts - from a co-worker.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dawn Bell/Charlie Harris</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Nerve</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, I love Dawn and Charlie's relationship and I am not ashamed. </p><p>I own nothing but the typos. Originally posted on Tumblr.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When he retold the story later, he’d make his role much bigger. More active – more impressive. He’d tell a story about how he’d seen the hot new resident alone in the break room, her nose in a textbook. He’d talk about how he sidled up to her, offered to help her study – and come away from it with a kiss for his troubles.</p><p>What he <em>wouldn’t</em> tell was what really happened the first time Dawn Bell kissed him.</p><p>It had been his first lead in a surgery – and it was hell. Nothing went right from the minute they cut the guy open. After four hours, they’d scraped and fought their way to a close, a stable patient in recovery. But Charlie was still a mess of nerves. <em>He was supposed to be better than this</em>. Top of his class – the promise of the brightest future. And he’d fumbled first time out of the gate. He’d shut down and almost completely <em>fucked</em> a routine operation. What he really needed was a drink.</p><p>That is, until <em>she</em> walked in. The new resident – the one who intimidated everyone, even some of the surgeons on staff. But Charlie didn’t scare so easy. He happened to like intimidating. And by some miracle, her first day on the job, he’d made her laugh. Her face had lit up and he’d felt in his chest. And that set the whole thing rolling – stolen looks, jokes on their rounds, hands brushing a little too long over passed charts. He knew she was interested – he just needed to find his moment.</p><p>But tonight wasn’t it. Charlie lay slumped on the sofa in the doctors lounge, head back, a forgotten cup of coffee getting cold in his hands. Dawn slowed to a stop on her way to the fridge. A quick glance told her everything she needed to know.</p><p>“Suck it up, Harris,” she said. There was maybe a hint of fondness under the smooth tones. “It happens to the best of us. Well –” She shot him a sly glance. “Maybe not the <em>best.</em>”</p><p>Charlie was sitting up straight in an instant. “Sorry, did you just tell me to suck it up?” Tired and frustrated though he was, there was a tiny smirk forming at the corners of his mouth. “And how many surgeries have <em>you</em> done?”</p><p>She didn’t answer as she pulled her sandwich out of the fridge and began to unwrap it.</p><p>“More than you,” she replied before taking a bite.</p><p>“Uh huh. Well, thanks for all the help, Dawn,” he said with a bitter sigh, slumping backwards once more. Petulant wasn’t his best look – especially not with her. But he couldn’t help it. He wasn’t used to being a <em>screw-up.</em> And he didn’t like it one bit.</p><p>“So figure out where you went wrong.”</p><p>Her voice came from somewhere near his elbow as she sat down heavily beside him. Charlie cracked an eye open to look at her. A few stray whisps of blonde hair had escaped her ponytail and her scrubs were wrinkled from too long a shift. <em>She looked immaculate</em>. Dawn popped her feet up on the table and took another bite of her roast beef.</p><p>“What?” <em>Yeah, he didn’t sound stupid or distracted at all. </em></p><p>She had the decency not to roll her eyes. Instead, her gaze flicked down to the coffee table where a stack of his notes and flashcards lay scattered haphazardly about. Studying for the boards – the number one job of every resident. Dawn pushed a few cards towards him with the toe of her shoe.</p><p>“I said figure out what you screwed up.”</p><p>“Yeah, thanks for the advice, but I really don’t think <em>vocabulary</em> was my problem,” he shot back. “It was more like –”</p><p>Charlie stopped. How did he even put it? How did he admit to the feeling of self-doubt in his gut? She wouldn’t get it. She looked like she’d never doubted herself for a second in her life. But, ever the surprise, the smirk on her lips softened.</p><p>“Nerve,” she filled in for him. “You lost your nerve.”</p><p>Charlie let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. For a moment, all he could do was stare at her. He noticed a crumb had gotten stuck on her lip. It took all his self-restraint not to reach out and brush it away.</p><p>Charlie nodded. “Yeah,” he said softly. “Nerve…What do I even do about that?”</p><p>Dawn didn’t answer for a long moment. She looked at him – like she was making up her mind about something. Finally, she brought a graceful hand to her lips and brushed the crumb free. And before he knew what she was doing, she’d slid towards him and pressed her lips to his. It wasn’t soft. It wasn’t gentle. It was a statement. And it was one he understood. His heart sped up and his insides fizzed as he opened his mouth to hers. She tasted like horseradish and tomato and something spicy that he would come to learn was just <em>Dawn</em>. When she pulled away, it was like someone had sucked the oxygen out of the room. She looked at him for a moment, her cheeks flushed, a knowing smile curling at the corner of her mouth.</p><p>“Well, Charlie Harris,” she said coolly. “You find some.”</p><p>And with that, she was gone – taking his heart along with her.</p>
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